That Ol' Black Magic
by iHeartE.D
Summary: Fred Weasley, the unfortunate twin, wandered alone. Unsure of where to go and what to do, his lamenting leads to a most fortunate meeting between himself and a Necromancer who could possibly help him...OCxFredW. T for later chpt.'s READ
1. Chapter 1

***First and final disclaimer for this story, I do not own Harry Potter and the contents in the story. However, Ephyra does belong to me. **

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Chapter ONE

Fred, Fred Weasley. This boy, who had died during the battle against the Dark Lord, was named so. He had a family, a very large and extensive one at that, and a twin brother. A twin for whom he would miss so, the one person who had understood him, that connection had been broken when his heart stopped beating. When he died, he felt his soul drift apart from his body, floating in limbo for sometime. He watched as Voldemort was taken down, he watched his family mourn his lifeless body, and he watched the funeral. It was small, not many people, just a few close friends and family. It pained him to see his mother heartbroken, his father cry, his sister comfort George even as she too felt the pain deep inside. Poor, poor George. He was mortified, almost like he had died along with the boy laying in the casket. Fred wanted to reach out, to pat him on the back and say it was going to be alright, that he was still here. But when he did, his hand phased through him. A ghost of what had been, could not touch what still was.

So Fred watched, keeping tabs on his brother and their shop, business still booming; and yet, it still missed something. George kept moving on, often crying at night, Angelina there to comfort him even as she was swelled up like balloon, going through morning sickness and mood-swings. Poor Angelina, poor George. Fred could hardly keep from falling apart, even as ghost. He always wondered when his time would be up, when that Angel from the sky would finally fall down from the Heaven's and claim his soul. And yet, day after day, no Angel came. He figured he must have unfinished business, things he needed sorted out, to say his final goodbyes to those he loved most. But the question was, how? How could he communicate from beyond the grave without a body? A haunting? A spiritual advisor? All ideas led to a dead end. And as always, he sat by idly and watched as his nieces and nephews grew up, never knowing their Uncle Fred. He wanted children, light-skinned girls' and ginger-haired boys'. He wanted all of it, the house, marriage, old-age. Foolish and greedy, that's all it was, just the fiery envy of one lost soul.

And time passed as the children George and Angelina had grew up, making their papa happy. He rarely cried anymore, sleeping sound and cozy, almost forgetting his twin. It was enough to make Fred both angry and relieved. Relief for his brother's mourning had passed, and anger for him not mentioning his brother to his children. So much so, that one day, Fred up and left. Floating along the way along the streets of Diagon Alley, not bothering to weave his way through the crowd, simply phasing through them. He wanted to go, to just ascend already, get rid of the pain in his aching heart. But, to his lamentation, he could not. And so, he floated along, head hung low.

"I'll take this, please." a woman's voice reached his ears, he looked towards a shop with a pentagonal-star sign hanging above the door. She was standing outside, holding a few tattered books in a ½ price bin. The bored store owner looked at her oddly. He was old, decrepit. Fred thought of how funny it would be to take make a potion that caused the old man's ear hair to grow, slip it to him in his morning pumpkin juice. The thought of it nearly lifted his spirits, nearly. But he floated closer, listening to the conversation. Something about this woman struck him, pulled him towards her. Sure, she was pretty, not gorgeous like Fleur but definitely attractive. She had ivory skin, green-cat eyes popping out against the pale color, her face framed in tight dark-brown curls. She let it fall around her, some pulled up at the top of her head, decorated in a weirdly decorated top hat. A veil hung to the side from the small hat, her clothes different, almost 1900's. She looked delicate, confident, and her smile made his cold soul feel warm. Her clothing may have been dark, but her smile was bright.

"That'll be 10 gallons." the shop-keeper replied. She frowned at him, almost like a child who didn't get their way. Fred chuckled to himself.

"But it says, ½ off all books." she argued.

"Yeah, each one you got is 5 gallons, half off the original price. You got two, that makes 10 gallons." he explained.

"I thought it meant half off the full price for what you buy."

"No, no. Half off what's in the bin Miss, if you ain't happy with it, you can put the books down and leave."

"Well." she huffed, pouting her bottom lip, head held high.

"I'll take them." the old man sighed, rubbing his temples and taking the money from her.

"Have a great day." the man implied, somewhat irritated.

"As for you, the same." she nodded, pulling the veil over her face and sticking her books in a cauldron hanging on her arm. Fred felt cold again as she walked away, and so he followed her. Her walk was delightful, graceful, almost like she was gliding on water. Nothing like the girls' at Hogwarts or on the Muggle women he'd seen, something about her aura was magnetic, he couldn't pull himself away.

"Evenin' Miss, would you like--?" an old wizard tried to stop her, holding an organ with a dancing house elf standing by, dressed in Shakespearean couture.

"No thank-you, must be on my way. Too much to do, so little time. None can be wasted on dilly-dally and silly street performer's today I'm afraid." she smiled, taking a few coins from her cauldron and tossing them at the old man.

"Thank ya kindly." the old man tipped his hat, and she was on her way again. She didn't stop for some time, meandering her way to a forest Fred had never seen before. Although, he had never ventured far from the joke shop, not even for a prank or two. But, despite the growing feeling of ill will swelling inside of him, he still followed her. What could a wandering soul be afraid of, he was already dead.

At the forest's entrance, she went straight for a grim looking carriage, driven by an odd looking coach driver. A small hob-goblin, holding the reigns to which were attached to Thestrals'. He watched as she made her way to the little man, mumbling something to him.

"Home now, if you would." she whispered, climbing carelessly into the coach. Fred phased through, sitting across from her. Her cat eyes scanned the outside, chin resting her fist.

_Beautiful. _He thought. Truly, he hadn't noticed how appealing her eyes were at the moment he first saw her, awkward yet fascinating. He wondered if it were the eyes that had pulled him along, to bring him to follow her so impulsively. She couldn't even see him, let alone touch him. But deep down, he felt that this woman could help him, and following her was the first step to getting what he wanted.

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**Author's note:**

**Thank-you in advance to those who have read my first fanfic, it is still in progress and will be updated along with this one. I have a tendency to start something and move on to something else, so don't be upset if I don't update this one or the other and happen upon something new to write. Please, if you feel it necessary, and the demand for these stories are high, I will write more consistently. **

**Please read and review, let me know if you like it. It would be much appreciated. **

**Thanks again, **

**iHeartE.D.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter TWO

The carriage arrived at a manor, a large-black flat, two floors with gothic windows and pillars. Vines and weeds twisted up the sides, giving it an old abandoned look. Stone gargoyles sat at the entrance on either side of the tall, creaking gate as it opened on its own for the carriage. Tall, swaying willows fluttering in the breeze outside, alive looking. A garden sat in front of the house, watered by a few charmed water buffalo's, decorated with floating crystal balls. Fred didn't see the point in watering the garden since its contents were basically dead, like him, the life sucked plain dry. Honestly, the house gave Fred the creeps, a real haunted house. But then he thought, the house suited this odd woman, weird but magnetic. A conundrum really, like it's owner.

When the carriage stopped, the woman stepped out, walking along the stone path to the double doors. They creaked open, a small house elf standing by.

"Did the Lady have splendid time shopping?" the house elf squeaked. Fred tilted his head, examining the thing. It did not look unhappy, but rather joyful.

"Yes indeed! I found the book I was looking for, and I also happened across one that I thought would interest you!" The woman stepped inside, the door closing behind her. Fred floated in, watching as an animated hat rack came and took the woman's hat and leather gloves. Her smile went from ear to ear as she knelt down, reaching into her cauldron and pulling out one of the tattered books. He couldn't make out the writing on the front, figuring it was just a novel or something boring in that category.

"Thank you a thousand times over Miss, thank-you!" the house elf cried, kissing the woman's hand.

"Now, now. No need for that, run along and finish your chores." she giggled, almost like the sound of tinkling wind chimes.

"Yes, yes!" the house elf scurried away, leaving the woman alone.

"I know you've been following me." the woman suddenly spoke, turning around and staring dead straight at Fred. A fiery look in her cat eyes. His jaw dropped, his eyes bugging out. She could see him! She could actually _see _him.

"What's your name?" she asked, sighing lightly.

"Fred." he replied.

"Fred what?"

"Weasley. Fred Weasley."

"Alright then, what do you want? Power to haunt someone, torture a living soul through dreams? You want to control me to get revenge? What is it then?" her voice was bored, as if this had happened to her many times before.

"I--I don't know. I just followed you."

"I hardly believe that. Ghosts follow me all the time, and they're all the same. Some are sad, other's mad; but the story is all the same, they want revenge." the woman turned, retreating to the stairs, her back to him. Fred hung his head lowly, he didn't want any of that.

"You might as well go if that's all you want, I can tear souls apart with just a word and flick of my wrist." she warned, turning her cat eyes on him. What kind of witch was she?

"I really don't want any of that, I just figured you could help me."

The look in the woman's eyes softened a little, but she didn't let her guard fall.

"How can I trust you? How do I know you won't try and take over my body?"

Fred felt a little taken aback.

"I honestly don't know what I'd do in a woman's body, seeing as I'm a man."

Her lips quivered, trying to hold back a laugh. But, despite her best efforts, she could not help but let it out.

"A comedian, are we?"

"A prankster really, but close enough." he shrugged.

"Tell me, any relation to the Mr. Weasley who owns the joke shop by Ollivander's?" she turned to face him, leaning against the arch of the stairway.

"Actually, he's my twin." his voice wavered, revealing something sad behind his ghostly tone. Her smile faded, turning to a frown.

"How did you come to be this way?" she asked.

"No doubt you've heard of the Battle of Hogwarts, correct?"

"Correct."

"Well, I was killed in an explosion."

"Fighting the bad or good?"

"The bad of course, helping out a good friend of mine you see."

"Harry Potter?"

"The one and the same." he nodded.

"Curious, curious." she sighed, walking towards Fred. Her eyes scanning him as she circled his ghostly figure like a vulture.

"What?" he asked, raising a questioning brow.

"Something about you is different from the others'. Something I've never sense before." she stopped in front of him, furrowing her brows, thinking hard.

"You have a genuine feeling about you, one of internal suffering. There is no anger about you, or sadness, just loneliness. I can't quite figure out why, what makes you different?"

"Can you see me?" he asked abruptly, more curious about that than what she was explaining. He already knew he was lonely, he didn't want revenge on anyone.

"Oh dear no, just the aura around you. It has a distinct color for each person, faint for a living being but it takes a definite shape for souls. Right now, you have a bluish purple tint to yours. Most souls that follow me around are either deep blue or red, I've never come in contact with this before."

"Can all wizards and witches see the dead like you?"

"No, but some have had the ability as children." she explained, walking to a different room, beckoning him with a wave of her hand. A beaded doorway led to a foggy room that smelled strongly of burning incense and candles. He examined the large black cauldron in the middle of the room, shrunken heads hanging from the ceiling, and books stacked high on the wooded floor. Knick-knacks and junk piled in corners, a desk with papers sprawled all over it, jars of body parts and glass cabinets filling the wall behind the desk. He watched the woman pull the seat out, sitting at the desk, rummaging through the drawer's.

"So, how can you see me? A spell, a charm, a potion?"

"Absolutely not! I'm no witch." she explained, taking the pouty behavior she'd had with the old man at the shop.

"What are you then?" he asked, a little horror-struck.

"I'm a Necromancer."

Fred looked into her cat eyes, staring into them long and hard. No wonder she was different, he'd never met a witch with those peculiar eyes before. It all made some sense, more than anything else he could think of at the time.

"But isn't that still witchcraft?" he asked, a little puzzled.

"In its own way, only a few of us are born in a century. We are a special class of Necromancer's, we study the art of Summoning and Alchemy." she explained, a smile playing at her lips.

"Did you ever attend Hogwarts?"

"Heaven's no! I studied alongside the famous Nicholas Flamel, a close friend of my father's. But, I did have the pleasure of meeting Albus Dumbledore many a times. I dare say, he was quite an intriguing fellow. A real shame that he passed away."

"Yeah, good man he was." Fred agreed.

A moment of silence followed, neither one spoke to each other, until the woman at the desk cleared her throat.

"In light of the circumstances, I've decided I'll help you."

Fred felt his ghostly heart jump, turning to look at her smiling cat eyes.

"Really?"

"I like you, there's something…oh, I don't know, something about you intrigues me." she sighed.

Fred floated to her side, wrapping his ghostly arms around her. He felt like a child again, hugging his mother because she'd just given him the one thing he wanted most. He felt her shiver under his touch, giggling loudly.

"I've never had a ghost hug me before, this is new!" she exclaimed, Fred drawing his arms away.

"I can't thank you enough."

"No trouble at all, Fred Weasley." she stood, holding out a hand to him.

"Pleasure, Miss…?" he put his ghostly hand to hers, which did not phase through at all. Her gentle fingers wrapping around his hand.

"You may call me, Ephyra VonDesmond, of the late Rupert VonDesmond, apprentice to Nicholas Flamel."

"Ephyra it is." he smiled, looking longingly into those feral cat-eyes of hers. The eyes of a Necromancer, the eyes of his savior.

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***Author's note: the reason why, if you are at all puzzled about this, Fred is 'attracted' to her in a magnetic way is b/c she has the ability to speak to the dead. Her ability draws him to her, which is that magnetic attraction. **

**If you have any questions concerning Ephyra, or any suggestions for the story, please feel free to send me a message and ask/explain. I would be happy to answer any questions you have. **

**Please read and review! **

**Thanks again, **

**iHeartE.D **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter THREE

Fred actually felt excited for the first time since he'd become a ghost, he really felt that this woman could help. If she was an apprentice to Nicholas Flamel, and she had met Dumbledore, there was no doubt in his mind that she could be the one to help.

All week he sat around her house, or floated, watching as she read through book after book. Her house elf brought mugs and mugs of some steaming hot drink, obviously it kept her working through the nights. She only moved to use the lou. She wore the same thing everyday, a silk flower-patterned robe with her hair up and glasses sitting on the tip of her nose. She wrote down notes and marked pages, sometimes flipping back to reread something. He liked the way her cat eyes scanned the pages, taking in the knowledge and feeding it through her mind again and again. Sometimes she scrunched her nose in displeasure and flew her arms up like a child, muttering satirical sentences meant for the author of the book who must have written down the wrong thing.

Then, one day, she spoke to Fred for the first time since they'd met.

"I've looked through these books, page after page, and they all say the same things. But I know something is missing, something important, I just can't quite figure it out yet. I'll have to make a call, if you'd excuse me."

"Sure." he sighed, following her with his eyes, floating towards her desk to see the notes. He read something about a summoning using the remains of the body, tattoos, bonds, and something about evil. He definitely did not want to be her puppet of evil, a brain-eating zombie. Only, he'd never actually heard of such a thing, because he was sure that if anyone brought back the dead it wouldn't live for much longer than a few seconds. Zombies didn't have souls, so nothing was tying them to the living. But, then again, he didn't know much about the power of Necromancy.

"We'll be paying a visit to my Teacher, he may have some information I could use." Ephyra entered again, spectacles sitting atop her head. Round, dark circles under her eyes revealed themselves in the light as she came closer to the candles. She had not slept in over a week, it was understandable, and Fred felt awful.

"Flamel?" Fred asked stupidly.

"Of course, who else?" she smiled, turning to leave. It didn't take long for her to change, and when she came down, she was glowing. The circles under her eyes, gone, a smile plastered on her ivory face. This time, she wore traditional robes, very flattering to her figure. A red pendant with a circle and star in the middle hanging loosely on a silver chain around her neck. Most of her curls sat on top of her head, bunched up behind a twisted braid. Fred's jaw dropped, she was just radiant, more so than Fleur this time. He took back his words from the day before, saying she wasn't as beautiful as his brother's wife. For that, he was wrong, totally wrong.

"Are we ready to go then?" she snapped her fingers, the hat rack waddling towards her, holding out a billowing black cape. She pulled it on, flipping the hood over her head to hide her face. Fred's eyebrows furrowed, he really disliked the fact that she was hiding her looks behind a hood, a shame really.

"Yep. I've scrubbed behind my ears and ironed my pants, I dare say I'm ready to for anything you can throw at me." he saw the twinkle behind her eyes, one of amusement.

"Glad to see that your sense of humor did not die along with your body." she grinned, gracefully gliding out the door and towards the coach already awaiting her. Fred phased through the door, sitting silently across from her as they began moving.

"As I was researching," she began lightly, "I read that, to have a proper summoning of the dead, the soul of the body can only be drawn back by the beating heart of the dead. Somehow, we have to get your heart beating long enough for you to go back in, in which time I would carve the runes of Sealing on your body. They'd be permanent, spiritual devices that connect the soul back to the body. Mind you, no one has ever tried this before because it is very, very dark magic and could have awful consequences. Sometimes the soul could disintegrate under the runes, or be trapped in the body for eternity, without it never moving or responding to what the soul wills it to do."

Fred gulped.

"Though, there's something missing. It only mentions once in one book that the one bringing the soul back to the body, has to make an unbreakable vow. I would have to promise you me, I would be sharing my life force with you."

"So?"

"Well, what that means is, if you happen to disappear during the ceremony; so will I. If you die, as do I."

Fred froze, he was asking this woman to do that for him. Someone he barely even knew, barely spoken to. He couldn't ask her to do that, sure he was a trickster, but not an exceptionally cruel one. Tying her life to his almost seemed like marriage, only, you couldn't choose to get a divorce. One could not live without the other. And to him, that was unfair to her. Asking her to bind her soul to a man she'd never met, granted, she didn't even know what he looked like. Fred knew she had a chance to marry any man and fall in love with someone worthy of her beauty. Freckles, ginger-hair, pasty skin; that was the permanent look of a Weasley, surely she would be disappointed.

"Thanks for trying, I really appreciated your help." Fred sighed.

"Why do you say that? I've not given up, I already told you I'd help you and if this is the way, then I'll do it. We had an understanding, Mr. Weasley, I would be greatly disappointed if my first summoning happened upon another needy soul that was not yours." her smile lifted his mood a touch.

"You would be willing to sacrifice a happy life, for someone you don't even know?"

"Oh, I know you well enough. You have a twin brother named George, a family that adores you in every way possible, and you come to me asking only that I help you find your way back to them; that's all I need to know."

Her sincerity and kindness could not be matched by now, forget her beauty and childish behavior, Fred felt that he could fall in love with her if she were an old hag. And he rarely ever felt that way.

"I couldn't be more grateful, Ephyra."

"You called me by my name!" she squealed, Fred felt himself blush, if he could.

"I guess I did." he replied.

If he'd had a heart at that very moment, it would have been pounding furiously against his chest. The way she smiled her cherubic smile at him, it gave him butterflies. And for that time, he felt euphoric, that everything couldn't be more perfect.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter FOUR

As the carriage arrived, they happened upon the large stately manor of one, Nicholas Flamel. The stone structure reminded Fred of a castle, one not as nearly as big as Hogwarts, but close enough.

"That's where he lives? Blimey, the old man must be over 150 years by now! What's he doin' in a place like this?"

"He doesn't live here alone, I told you, I studied under his eye. This place is his Open Academy for Alchemist's and Necromancer's, since there aren't many of us, he teaches privately for an hour of everyday. You could call it a public research facility, or library really. I spent seven years here, learning from him."

"Rich bloke, isn't he?"

"Of course. You don't write thousand's of books and not get paid for the generous amount of time you spend experimenting and researching." Ephyra laughed, Fred could only gape with awe at such a place.

"He'll be so glad to meet you. I'm not sure he's ever met a spirit the likes of you before." she commented as the carriage stopped, a door opening for her by a tall man in a dark suit. His skin was dark, black hair gelled back, and he had the same peculiar eyes as Ephyra. By his manner, he didn't look at all happy to see her.

"He is in his study, I told him of your arrival and is very pleased that you have come to visit." the man spoke.

"I'm sure." Ephyra replied coldly, stepping out with Fred behind her. She nodded thoughtfully towards the man, walking along.

"Who was that?"

"His most recent apprentice…and my ex-fiancée."

Fred felt the wind blow through him.

"You were engaged?"

"Only by arrangement. My father thought it best to have someone ready for me, but I told him I'd seen my soul mate in a dream. He was quite upset about it, I could understand why of course, the man back there is a pure blood Necromancer. It would only seem fitting if I married my kind, but I know who I'm meant to be with."

"So…you're not marrying someone of your abilities?"

"Of course not! Men of my abilities are boring brutes, I feel they have an incapability to love at all." she spat. He didn't press the subject any further. The rest of the walk was silent, even more so as they ascended the marvel stairs to a pair of mahogany doors with carved Latin inscriptions scribbled across it.

She pushed through, entering the large-pentagonal room with her head held high, nose in the air. Fred looked around, shelves of books filled the walls, no windows or pictures anywhere. A large, crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, lit by orbs of red and yellow lights. In the middle of the room, an old man sat at his desk, scribbling things down with a quill, unaware of his visitors.

"Professor Flamel." Ephyra suddenly spoke, her voice soft and gentle. The man looked up, his ancient eyes looking her up and down. His forehead creased, the years he'd lived written neatly across his face. He smiled.

"Miss VonDesmond! How nice, I was told I'd gotten a call from a former student of mine!" the old man stood, a slight hunch to his back and a big grin pasted on his old face. He wore a dark blue suit, a gold chain hanging from one of the inside pockets. He reached an old hand into his breast pocket and pulled a pocket watch out, he looked at it happily.

"It's been one year, six hours, fifty-three minutes, and forty-five seconds since I've last seen you!"

"And it is such a pleasure to see you again Professor, but I'm afraid I have no time for mere chitchat you see. I am here on official business."

"Is that so, then please, have a seat and explain to me what it is you have gotten yourself into." the old man sat back down slowly, easing into his chair slowly. Fred floated closer to Ephyra as she too took a seat.

"You see, I have a friend here." she gestured towards Fred, looking at her awkwardly. The old man flicked his eyes towards Fred's floating figure, squinting his eyes, putting his spectacles to his eyes and blinking many times.

"I say! What a specimen, I've never seen such an aura before!"

"My thoughts exactly! Fred dear, explain to Mr. Flamel how you came to be."

"Well…during the Battle of Hogwarts I died in an explosion." he explained, unsure of how that would help the old man understand his predicament any better.

"How rare! He can speak in full sentences, not at all like the ghouls you've brought to me before."

"Oh I quite agree, and he has come to me for help. And the help he requires, well, it has a lot to do with summoning the dead to be more than the dead. I'm sure you've read the book on Connecting Souls?"

"That I have."

"Well, for this to work his heart has to be beating long enough for his soul to go back in and long enough for me to draw the runes onto his body. The only piece I'm not sure of, is how to do that."

"Ah yes, the ever undulating question of how to make a dead heart beat again. I came across that very question myself. Surely you know of the bonds that you make between the summoner and the dead? I researched it for myself, and I found that there is a special rune to which can bring the dead heart back. The only problem is, that rune has been lost."

"What happened?"

"Long ago a young man, a Necromancer, lost his newlywed wife and found that her soul lingered on, just as Fred's here has, and he decided to try to connect her soul back to her body. Only, the problem was, finding the right combination of runes to use on the body. He succeeded in binding her soul to her heart, but the runes began to fade, and so he explored further. He created a special rune, a powerful one, that allowed the heart to beat in sync with the one who summoned it back to life. He tried it, and it worked, but he lost her again after a Secret Society killed him and stole his discovering. No one has been able to find this Society for years, I'm afraid your research has hit a dead end."

"How awful, that poor man."

"True, a tragic end to such a devoted man." Ephyra sighed heavily, somewhat saddened. Fred knew what that meant, and he felt sick again, the lonely feeling washing over him again. He floated away, not wanting to stay any longer. He knew the cause was lost, and he would just have to face the fact that he would be a soul caught in limbo for eternity.

*

Ephyra sighed, sensing Fred's fleeting soul. She couldn't help but feel horrible about the situation.

"Has he left?"

"I'm afraid so."

"I want you to know that the rune he used was one that binds the heart through love. The only way it could work was if the love they felt for each other was unconditional. He was truly devoted, that's why it worked."

"I don't doubt that. But, how can I even try if I can't find the rune itself?" she huffed, blowing a piece of hair out of her face.

"The faction that followed the young man have kept their society together, I know of a few people who might know something about it." Flamel hinted.

"Really? Who?"

"Leonce." Ephyra gasped in disgust, scrunching her nose is displeasure. Leonce Pier had been the one to greet her, her ex-fiancée. She really had no desire to ask him for his help.

"I'll think on it. In the meantime, I have to find Fred. Thank-you for your time, I must be on my way."

"Farewell my dear, we must have a day to catch up." Ephyra waved, walking out the door, smiling and nodding. Of course she'd have to, he was after all, her most trusted confidant.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter FIVE:

"Fred dear! Where have you gone?" Ephyra called out, stepping from the house towards the carriage. Genuinely, she was worried about how he was. Secretly, she admired his spirit and intuition; and it would seem more than unhappy if he gave up.

"Here." he whispered, already beside her. She nearly jumped.

"My goodness! You frightened me."

"Great, maybe I can get a job in the haunting business." Fred rolled his eyes.

"Now Fred, I told you that I would help you, and I intend to do so."

"How? You heard him, that research was lost."

She considered this a moment as they climbed into the carriage-well, Fred floated.

"Years ago, when I was a small girl, my father told me a story. In this particular story, he told me of a young boy whom lost everything he had as an infant, his parents murdered, and he was alone. I can assume you already know who I speak of?"

Fred nodded.

"Harry, right?"

"He told me this boy would face many trials in the wake of the one who took from him everything he once had."

Though Fred knew the story, knew the boy, it seemed strangely different to him now; almost alien in the way she spoke.

"I always guessed the boy would give up and take the easy road, but as I grew older, I heard more stories of his heroics; and then I realized he really couldn't take the easy road because there wasn't one laid out for him. But it didn't stop him from being-"

"The hero? Yeah, I know." Fred sighed.

"No. It didn't stop him from doing what he knew was right. He was fighting not only for himself, Fred dear, but for you and for I-on a lesser note, no doubt."

Ephyra smiled brightly at him.

"So you see, just because there is no easy road for you, does not make it an more easy to just give up. I am here for you and you have my word that I will be for as long as it takes to fulfill my promise to help you get your body back."

Fred, in full awe of her words, could not help but just look at her. He had no note to add, which, was a first.

"Have I put you off?" Ephyra laughed, tilting her head to the side like a child observing an odd object for the first time.

"Uh, no. I...where do we start?"

She smiled knowingly, as if she already guessed that's what his answer might be.

"We find out where your body is first. Can't have a summoning without a body."

Fred thought on this a moment, only realizing for the first time how long he'd been dead.

"Wouldn't my body already be...well, gross now?" Fred asked hesitantly, but Ephyra's happy expression did not waver. In fact, her lips seemed to curl with satisfaction.

"I do hope so, I've always wanted to mend a dead body."

Fred shuddered, looking out the side of the carriage as they approached the mansion he knew as Ephyra's. He wondered how such magic could exist without a wizard or witch who has no knowledge of the practice. Certainly someone would have known, considering the Sorcerer's Stone and the Resurrection Stone. The question, up until they entered the house, bothered him. Once inside, he continued to wonder until supper.

"Something bothers you." Ephyra chirped, sipping a goblet of smoking red liquid.

"Um, yeah. I thought there was no spell that could bring back the dead."

He suddenly wished that he had not mentioned it as Ephyra went silent, almost petrified where she sat, her eyes darker than the usual yellow.

"Necromancy is no magic spell. It's a practice in the darkest form of Alchemy. We do not wave a wand like wizards, we use our hands to make things real enough to touch. It is a very deep and foul magic that many witches and wizards look down upon because they cannot have it, because they do not fully understand it. That is why you were never taught such things at Hogwarts, because in normal practices and teachings, you do not play God's hand. We, I, do."

"But-"

She seemed to know what he was going to say already, and was equipped with an immediate answer.

"I have no kind of magic that would entitle me to attend a school as you did. I am not a witch. I cannot be a witch for very good reason, oddly enough for the same reason that pigs cannot normally fly."

She paused.

"I wasn't born that way."

"Is it possible for a wizard to become a Necromancer?"

"I should hope not!" she yelped, suddenly taken aback.

"Why?"

"It would tear apart the very balance of the magical world Fred, dear."

"I don't understand."

"A Wizard with the ability to kill and raise the dead? How dreadful! Don't you think wizards have enough power in the world? Think of the poor House Elves! The Goblins! There would be no equality with wizards who thought themselves even more superior than they already are!" genuinely upset by this, Ephyra glared to fiercely at Fred it was enough to send chills through his already cold, ghostly self.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's quite alright." she said nothing more, instead, she returned to her food which made Fred unusually hungry. He missed food, a lot.

"Um, what if a wizard and a necromancer...well, you know?"

Ephyra, turning a very impressive shade of crimson, sipped once more from her steaming goblet and cleared her throat.

"I don't believe I've heard of such a thing happening, but I think it would be very difficult."

"Forbidden?"

"No, it's not that."

"Then what?"

She swallowed, her eyes somewhat glinting with a sadness, "Well, I don't think your people know we exist."

"Oh." Fred replied, falling silent once again. He wondered how anyone in the wizarding world could overlook such powerful and enlightened people. Perhaps they were a threat to power, but then again, Ephyra was hardly a threat herself.

"Did Voldemort know about you?" Fred asked suddenly as they sat in the study alone, Ephyra reading and writing, nose deep in her research.

"Possibly, I can't be sure. If he was, we wouldn't have been much help." she sighed, sitting back in her chair.

"Really? I mean, you could have raised an army of dead people. Crazy brain eating zombies and all that."

"I'll assume you're joking. In any case, most Necromancer's make a vow of pacifism."

"What?"

"We don't kill what we can ultimately bring back. I mean, think of it this way. If I could kill someone, they could come back an angry spirit and kill me with the help of another Necromancer. Causes bad blood among my people, you see. No one enjoys being possessed by an angry spirit hell bent on revenge."

"Well, if you wanted to, could you kill someone?"

"Heavens no. A vow is a vow, and we take them very seriously." Ephyra stated.

"But, you would have no choice if you were possessed."

"That is incorrect." she lifted the sleeve just above her right elbow to reveal a black tattoo in the form of an old Latin word or letter.

"What's that?"

"My vow. A rune binds us to that vow."

"What happens-"

"It can't and won't. Like I said, we don't kill what we can bring back."

"Right smart you are." Fred whispered.

"In any case, what we need first, is to find your body and have it brought to me."

"Why that first?"

"Well I need to mend it before I find this Rune you silly boy! I'm hoping you're not too disheveled." she laughed heartily, finding this as a joke. Fred went white, literally, afraid of what he would look like. It had been forever since he had last seen himself. He only prayed it wasn't too late.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter SIX**:

Ephyra dressed in a lovely shade of emerald the next morning, her wild curls pinned to the side. Fred wished he could touch her hair, it would be nice to feel something other than the crushing loneliness he felt now.

"Now, who do we see about your body?"

"Probably my mum. She knows, guaranteed."

"And where did you once live?" Ephyra asked, climbing again into the carriage. Once he explained, they took off in the direction he knew would finally take him home again. It would be a relief to finally see his mother and father, even his many nieces and nephews. But then, it could be emotional and more taxing than he thought. He couldn't see his mother believing a stranger about his spirit and then giving the location of his grave to the same stranger. It would be extremely stupid, if that. But, when Ephyra rapped gently on the door of the Burrow, Fred knew there was no turning back.

A small, stoutly woman with graying hair answered the door with a questioning expression. Behind her many little ones ran freely, shouting at one another. Fred swore he spotted a little boy with the likes of Harry running round chasing a small blonde girl he knew to be named Alice.

"Hello, my name is Ephyra VonDesmond. You must be Molly Weasely."

"I am. What can I help you with?"

"I was wondering if I might have a word with you and your husband. Alone?"

Sensing things might go awry, Fred ushered Ephyra to leave. But she did not, and would not.

"What is this about?" Mrs. Weasely inquired, rather sourly.

Same old mum. Fred thought rather proudly.

"Your son."

Saying nothing more, Mrs. Weasely waved Ephyra in and led her to the old sitting room where Fred's father sat napping. He himself had aged quite magnificently in the passing time.

"Out you, go on! Outside, the lot of you!" Mrs. Weasley's shouts came with her as she carried a tray of tea into the sitting room with her. Fred spotted the many children rushing outside, laughing and carrying on; and then they four were alone.

"Arthur!" Molly hissed at her husband, offering Ephyra a cup of tea. He snorted awake, surprised by the presence of the young, odd-eyed woman in his sitting room drinking his tea.

"So sorry to disturb you both, but I have some questions I was hoping you would answer."

"What has George done now?" Mrs. Weasley sighed.

"This is not about George, I'm afraid."

"Ron? Oh don't tell me its Ron!" Mrs. Weasley cried.

"No! No! Not at all."

"Then who?"

"Fred." Mrs. Weasley went still, her husband nearly on the verge of combusting.

"And what do you know about him?" Arthur shouted, red in the face.

"I know he is dead. I also know he has not left you."

"Of course he's left us! He's six feet under the ground!" Mrs. Weasley sobbed.

"You have no right coming in here-!"

Suddenly, Ephyra tossed her head back and convulsed, her eyes blank and vague. Fred felt himself being pulled toward her, sucked in by the emptiness of her eyes. Then, everything went black and then everything went very well back to normal. The only thing being he was no longer floating, but an actual person, in an actual body. Looking around, he spotted his mother and father staring at him with shocked expressions. Had Ephyra somehow made him visible?

"Miss VonDesmond, are you alright?"

"Miss who?" he asked, his voice much higher than before.

"That is your name, isn't it?" Mrs. Weasley seemed terrified. Then it dawned on him, Ephyra had pulled him into her, forcing him to possess her body. It was like she wanted him to let them know he was there, that she was telling the truth.

"Mum? Dad? It's me, Fred."

Their expressions had not changed. Mrs. Weasley was still broken and his father was just as angry.

"Don't yell, please. Just listen to me."

They said nothing so he continued.

"For some reason, after I died, I never moved on. I don't know why, but I found Ephyra one day and followed her home. She promised to help me..."

He paused, thinking if it was wise or not to tell them about his plan. He decided against it.

"She said she'd help me with something that I can't tell you about just yet, but you have to trust her. Please."

Looking at his parents again, he saw his mother's softened but tearful expression. His father even seemed to be more calm.

"And how do we know this isn't just some kind of joke?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Well, I have a twin named George who lost his ear to Snape while we helped Harry escape on the night he turned seventeen. Nobody knew about the plan but Moody, Mundungus, Kingsley, Hermione, Ron-!"

"Alright, alright! We believe you!" Mr. Weasley cried tearfully, pushing himself up and crushing poor Ephyra into a tight embrace. Mrs. Weasley joined, her sobs just as loud and remarkably wet as before. Fred felt bad that Ephyra would be covered in salty tears as she continued her talk once he had left her body. However, he couldn't quite say that it had upset her any. She looked more soft and serene than before they had come compared to the fiery determination she had had at the door of the Burrow. It was a relief really.

"Are you a witch?" Mrs. Weasley had asked once things had cleared.

"No. I am a Necromancer, but, I have extensive knowledge in Alchemy as well."

"I've never heard such a thing."

Ephyra held herself quite nicely, knowing all too well how they knew nothing of her kind.

"We are a quiet sort of people. Though, I hope you can keep such a secret and continue to believe that we do not exist. We go to great lengths in order to procure our practices."

"Of course." Mr. Weasley nodded, having dealt with keeping secrets in the Ministry as he did happen to work Memory Charms on Muggles who knew too much.

"I must ask you-with no questions asked afterwards-where you buried your son's body."

There was silence in the room and Fred hoped nothing hostile would result from such a question.

"We buried him beside the cemetery at Hogwarts, with the rest of those who died protecting the castle. There was a memorial, a great Golden Phoenix built on the grounds to commemorate those who died during the battle."

Fred had never heard of this, then again, he never returned to the place where he had fallen a lifeless corpse.

"Is there a means to which I can acquire his body? With your permission of course."

Mrs. Weasley hesitated, fresh tears welling her small brown eyes. Fred thought it might be she who would answer, but instead, his father spoke; but not to Ephyra, but to him.

"Fred, if you can hear me, I only hope you know what you're getting yourself into. " Mr. Weasley seemed to be staring right at him, or through him anyway.

"I can bring him to you, but I don't want any of this released into the public. No one must know." Mr. Weasley added, grabbing his wand from the table beside him.

"Of course." Ephyra nodded, surprised by how willing his family was to help a total stranger. When Mr. Weasley left the room, it was Molly who was to speak again.

"You're going to try and bring him back, aren't you?"

"I can make no promises, but it is his wish that I try. I would be restoring a son to you, and nothing would bring me more joy than to see a broken family pieced back together." Ephyra smiled lightly, touching Mrs. Weasley's hand very gently.

It was with a tearful goodbye that the Weasley's and Ephyra parted ways after having given Arthur Weasley her address of course. It was decided the body would be brought to her estate under the cover of darkness and that no one would know, or need to know.

"You're very lucky." Ephyra said in a sad, hushed kind of way. She sat in the carriage, leaning against the dark window with her eyes half closed.

"Did you know they would give me up so easily?" Fred asked.

"Everyone would jump at the chance to have someone rise from the dead."

"But I thought you said that no one knew about you."

"Just because they don't know about us doesn't mean they don't know the meaning of the word Necromancy." her laugh was as soft as the sprinkles against the window outside. She was tired.

"Thank you." he said. She said nothing, having been lulled to sleep by the movement of the carriage. Fred could not think of where he would be at that very moment if he had not met the sleepy woman that day when he did. But he knew that fate had somehow brought him to her, and sometimes it was best not to question fate.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter SEVEN**:

"Who?"

"My ex-fiancée." Ephyra huffed rather agitated. She seemed most displeased at having to attend a supper she fixed with the handsome Leonce. Though, Fred couldn't say he was pleased at the idea of them alone for hours either.

"Oh." he said again, having known he'd asked the same question of her two hours ago. It had been three days since their visit to the Burrow and Ephyra was on edge. She was more than overjoyed to have his body, which was magically preserved and cleaned up since he died, in her basement. He watched his father and a Muggle man carry his casket into the basement. Fred assumed the man would never remember such a thing happening, his father was gifted when it came to Memory Charms.

After his father left he watched Ephyra mix a potent potion in a dark cauldron that was blue and rotten smelling. To his dissatisfaction, she poured the concoction into long silver basin where his body rested. Although, once the potion engulfed the corpse, it turned a radiating greenish color that let off the smell of familiarity-sweat and his own odor.

"It tickles your nerves awake, even though the body is dead. Watch." she put her hand in the green potion and pinched his forearm. Fred was more than anxious to actually feel the faint touch of her hand on his body and leapt with joy through the house, soaring through the ceiling and walls; whooping and hollering.

"Why can't I come?" Fred had asked once Ephyra had pulled her hair into a tight knot on the top of her head. He rather liked it down around her shoulders.

"He'll suspect something is up! Goodness knows what kind of people he's in league with!" She yelped, smearing her lipstick.

"So I have to stay here and watch my body float in that green stuff?"

"As it is, yes." she stood abruptly, viewing herself in the mirror. For tonight, she wore a midnight blue gown that gave off much of her chest.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"Are you seducing him or interrogating him?"

"Both." she sneered, wrapping a black midriff around her pale shoulders. Fred followed her down the marble stairs where the small house elf awaited her with his large eyes and encouraging smile.

"Have a lovely evening Mistress." He bowed.

"Thank you. Please, don't wait up." she smiled, patting his dear little head and leaving the safety of her own home to visit a man she more than just despised.

For Fred. she thought, stepping out of the carriage once it had finally arrived at Leonce's wealthy estate. He waited for her on the patio under the light of blue fire, floating in small crystal balls along the lawn that laid a path for her to him directly.

"Ephyra." he nodded, raking her up and down with his greedy eyes.

"Leonce." she said, offering him her hand. He kissed it and lead her in to the brightly lit foyer of his stone mansion. It was a home she knew to have been passed down from generation to generation in his family. It had once been her dream to live in such a beautiful home, but when she became all the wiser to her Betrothed's plans for her, she left him without a second thought. Although she knew she did not want him, or love him, she knew all too well how much he wanted her.

"I was so surprised to receive a letter from you requesting to have supper with me." He said as he lead her to a large dining room with a long table filled with food. Pulling out her chair, she smiled at the little House elf that seemed to snigger at her unhappily.

"Was it such a surprise?" she smiled, lifting a goblet of wine to her lips.

"I suppose not. Professor Flamel did inform me that you wished to ask me about a lost rune?"

"Oh yes. You know how fascinated I am by the creations of them alone. I came across this particular one while reading, as it always happens."

"Ah yes, you were always the bookish type."

"And you were always the charming type." she winked, mentally kicking herself for having to flirt with such dunderhead.

"And which Rune did you come across, my dear?"

"The Binding Rune, I believe it to be called."

Leonce went silent, completely caught off guard.

"This particular one reconnects a soul to its body by binding itself to a living person?"

"The Forgotten Rune." Leonce muttered audibly.

"They are the same?"

"Does this have anything to do with that spirit that was following you around?" Leonce asked suddenly, almost angrily.

"Oh Goodness no! Dear Leonce, that spirit has moved on! He finished his business the day you met him." she laughed. Leonce seemed to calm at this as his faced relaxed, a sure sign that his temper had dulled.

"Though I cannot say I was not inspired to snoop around for a type of Rune that could do what no magic spell could not."

"Yes, we have a Rune the likes of that."

They spoke nothing more on it for sometime as they ate. When Ephyra stood, she knew the only way to get what she wanted from him was to haggle it from him. So Leonce was at once taken when she slid her fingers across his cheek and led him to the sitting room beyond the dining area where a dim blue fire nested in the fireplace. Together, they sat on the bearskin carpet where Leonce could not keep his hands from touching her.

"I heard the Rune had a lovely story to it." she whispered, trailing her hand along his arm.

"Did you now?" He laughed huskily, his eyes hungry as they swept across her chest.

"It had a most unhappy ending." she frowned, dropping her hand from his arm to his leg.

"What are you asking Ephyra?" he sighed breathlessly, taking her hand from his leg and bringing it to his lips where he kissed each finger. She felt bile rising up her throat, pushing it down as hard as she could.

"What happened to the Rune?" she murmured, moving closer to him.

"They destroyed it." he said, kissing trail of fiery kisses along her collarbone, his hands at her back trying to undo the straps.

"What?" she gasped angrily as she was pushed down onto her back. He did not answer her, his mouth busy at her neck. She suddenly felt her dress come undone as his other hand slid up the slit along her leg. He was going to try and have his way with her.

"Leonce! What are you doing!" she screeched, trying to keep her dress on.

"Doing what I should have done ages ago." he laughed, his lips brushing against hers just before he fell to the side unconscious. Quickly, she wrapped her midriff around her and took off for the carriage that awaited outside. Shaken and disturbed, she left the manor behind in a fury.

"What happened?" Fred had asked after seeing her almost in tears.

"Nothing."

"Like hell nothing did!" he shouted, his aura turning dangerously red.

"Fred Weasley! Don't you dare go after him!" she screamed.

"And why not!"

"He'll tear your soul to shreds!"

He stopped, his anger turning to terror.

"He can kill your soul."

It sounded so unreal for a moment that he considered leaving to go after the guy anyway. But the urgency and panic in her voice kept him planted.

"Besides, I have what I went there for. He fainted before he could do any damage. I promise."

"You ruff him up?" Fred asked a little shakily, trying to lighten himself up with a joke.

"I have my ways." was all she said before retreating to her room to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter EIGHT**:

By the next morning Ephyra was not much in the mood for talking about the previous night with Fred. Whether he wanted her to or not, she would say nothing of it if he asked a simple question regarding the food or even the man's decorator. He certainly had to give her credit, she knew how to keep her lips glued shut.

"Alright, I get it. Would you at least tell me what you found out?" Fred sighed, watching as she pulled a great book from a shelf beside her and sat it on the desk. Peering up from a pair of crystal spectacles, she stared long and hard at Fred as if she could actually see him.

"They destroyed it."

"What?" Fred felt himself go cold all over again, his invisible heart sinking to the pit of his invisible stomach.

"He might have been lying, but, I don't know where this faction might even be found for me to do a bit of research." she sighed, obviously very frustrated, as she plopped back into her chair.

"We should give my parents my body back then." Fred said absentmindedly.

"Would you stop that? My goodness Fred, one would take you for a floating sack of unhappiness! Cheer up! This is a minor setback, we'll find a way." a leering smile played at the corner of her lips as she finished her sentence.

"Besides, I already have a plan."

For the rest of the day Fred watched Ephyra pack strange potions and such into a bag he found to be charmed as bottomless. He didn't inquire as to where it came from, assuming only that she would not answer or just smile at him. But, when she finished her packing it was almost night and she was dressed in black, a veil hiding her face.

"We have to go, now." Ephyra stated, leading the way outside to what he thought was her carriage but ended up being a black horse with a saddle.

"Where are we going?" Fred asked, watching as she mounted the steer in one swift movement. He was rather impressed to say the least, and floated beside her.

"To a cemetery." she whispered in a mischievous catlike voice that sent chills up his ghostly spine. Then, suddenly, the horse took off down an opposite road in the forest where the trees twisted around one another and there branches formed claws. It almost reminded him of the Forbidden Forest on the grounds at Hogwarts. Soaring through the air as fast as he could to keep up with Ephyra, he noticed how dark it had gotten and just how far they had traveled. She never stopped, not even when they entered a quiet village on the outskirts of the forest; she just kept going at a rapid pace like something was chasing her. So when they finally stopped, he was not surprised to find that they had indeed found the cemetery in which she was looking for.

The moon hung high in the sky at its fullest with no stars, just clouds, moving around it. A light mist covered the shadowed ground with its many headstones as Ephyra pushed open the wrought iron gates and led the horse through. She seemed to be on edge at this point, her face paler than he would have ever imagined.

"What's wrong?" he asked, coming beside her. She gave a shudder and swallowed deeply.

"The dead." he looked around expecting to see hands popping out of the ground but instead found nothing, just silence.

"I don't get it."

"I can hear them." she whispered, shuddering once more beside the horse and gripping its reigns tight.

"You can what?"

"I can hear them crying." her voice cracked and she suddenly stopped, gripping at her chest. He thought she might faint when instead she began to cry very quietly.

"I can't...no, it's too much..." she gasped, her eyes going blank as Fred felt himself being pulled towards her again. When he opened his eyes out of the darkness he was not at all confused about where he was and what had happened. Ephyra had pulled him into her again.

_Just straight ahead. _Her voice was weak and barely above a whisper as he ushered her body to move forward, still clutching at the horse. It wasn't far from where they had stopped when he came upon a beautiful stone angel in mourning, surrounded by nightshade with a small plaque at her feet. There were no other headstones around this one particular grave, but then, perhaps it was more special than the others. Whoever was buried here must have been loved a great deal in their once living life. A pushing feeling overcame him, followed by darkness, and then the light of the moon. He was his ghostly self again and Ephyra was drawing some kind of circle around the statue and herself. Collapsing to her knees, she regained a lighter color to her cheeks.

"That was unbearable." she gasped, pulling her bag towards her.

"Who is this?" he asked.

"Aysunelle Valtiéré." she said, her voice hushed and filled with an admiration and heartbreak he had not caught at first. He meant to ask who again until she drew a charcoal caricature on the plaque and then on her palms. Fascinated by this, Fred watched as she took one of her potions, which was red crimson from her bag and began to chant words in a foreign tongue. In the midst of her words the charcoal began to glow with a golden tint that turned bright silver when she poured the red liquid on the ground. Ephyra stood, the ground rumbling beneath her as the ground curled away from itself to reveal a white casket, pushed open by a young, silver haired woman with clouded eyes and dead skin. Fred could smell the rot from her body as she emerged and stood an inch shorter in front of Ephyra, the ground closing beneath their feet.

"Never would I have dreamt a Necromancer would one day come to bring me to life again." the dead woman's voice was sweet like a bell chiming in a light breeze. Fred imagined she must have been beautiful once in a different life.

"I'm sorry to disturb your slumber, but I must ask you if you are the wife of-"

"Yes." she responded, her clouded white eyes almost smiling.

"Then, the story is true?"

"It is." the woman nodded.

"Do you still have the markings?" Ephyra asked, swallowing. The young woman nodded.

"They burned them off when they came for my husband and I."

"Oh."

There was a thin silence before the dead woman spoke again.

"I see you are being followed by the dead. Is he a past lover you are trying to bring back?"

"Oh! Well, no, he's someone's dead son. They miss him and I've given my word that I would do whatever it takes to restore him to them."

"How lovely." the young woman smiled, her clouded eyes turning to Fred for one short moment.

"Do you think you could draw the markings for me?" Ephyra asked, her tone had lost its determination and was now replaced with a feeling of desperation.

"No." the answer was swift without hesitation, "But I can show you."

Suddenly the young woman moved to Ephyra, her white hand outstretched as she touched Ephyra's forehead very lightly where a small white light flashed; and then the woman stepped away.

"Thank you." Ephyra gasped, her voice cracking again.

"Take care." the young woman smiled, turning to white dust before their eyes and flowing into the wind, only to disappear in the light of the moon.

"Why didn't she just go back into the ground?" Fred asked, thinking it was just a little insensitive of him to ask that.

"I imagine she didn't want to go back there." she said very softly still watching where the woman had disappeared in a state of awe.

Mounting the horse after murmuring a small prayer in her foreign language, they finally left the cemetery with a newly refreshed hope. It was too much for Fred to take in and yet he didn't mind as he soon wondered how long it would be before he would come back; before he could see his family again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter NINE:**

It was near the midnight hour of the following day and much had been prepared throughout the course of the morning. Fred watched from a corner as his body, suspended still in the green liquid filled tub, was brought to the parlor where everything had been cleaned and cleared away. Then Ephyra covered the windows with the long black drapes, shading every shine of light that had come into the room. She said it was bad for the body to sit like that in the sun and he didn't argue. She had done wonders to his body, or at least, the liquid she made had. He looked just like himself from before and not at all dead, like he was just sleeping. He wished that had been the case.

"I have to explain something to you." Ephyra said suddenly, massaging her temples once again for the five hundredth time that day. She was on edge, he could tell.

"Fire away." he said.

"This could tear you apart. Your soul, I mean." he thought she was joking but the stern look in her gaze told him she wasn't, not in the slightest. Call it Prankster's intuition, but he wished she was.

"Then I would really be dead."

"No, you wouldn't even exist anymore. You could disappear and fade into nothing but a memory." her voice hitched and he thought she might start crying for a moment. But he was proven wrong again when she did not and continued on.

"I don't have to do this. You can tell me no and it will be so." an expression passed over her but before Fred could read her it disappeared into the rock solid facade.

"No, I want this. I would rather disappear than float around like this for the rest of my...well...nonexistence." he laughed nervously, however, she did not.

"Don't say such nonsense." she scolded, turning her face away from him. Maybe now she was going to cry? He couldn't tell.

"I need you to position yourself above your body. Lie flat and close enough that your almost touching. But don't, not yet. After I read the incantation you will feel a pull, do not resist it, just go. At first, you won't be able to move at all, you'll feel locked in. I'll let you know when you can."

"What about the green stuff? Will I drown in it?" he asked.

"No, no. You won't." she said, taking up a long black stick that reminded him of a wand; and then positioned herself at the head of the tub. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she waved for Fred to do as she told him. When he was ready, she began the incantation. He heard the foreign tongue and felt drowsy. She repeated over and over, her voice becoming stronger and more stern with each time she said it. The house began to shake and then her voice was loud, a yell over the sound of the rumbling structure. Fred felt a sudden pull and he panicked.

"Do not resist it, just go." he remembered her saying and closing his ghostly eyes, he let himself be dragged into the force of the pull. Then everything went black.

Sensing his spirit had gone, Ephyra reached a hand into the green liquid and felt his neck. A dull beat, weak and a little whisper told her he was inside. Another deep breath and she raised her arms high and using the small wand in her hand she drew the Rune in mid-air. It left behind a black design and when satisfied, she said one more word and it burned itself into Fred's chest.

"_Adstringo_."

Seeing the black Rune carve itself into Fred, Ephyra reached her hands into the green liquid and pressed hard on his chest. Saying the word over and over again she waited for a number of events to happen. First, the Rune would burn under her touch; and then it would open up and take in the green liquid to renew the insides; and finally, she would feel his heart beat. When the first two happened, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"_Adstringo!_"

Then she felt the heartbeat and pulled away. Fred rose up, coughing, a wild look in his eyes. He looked amazed and frightened at the same time.

"Ephyra?" he shouted, willing his upper body to turn around to see where she stood against a bookcase. She looked exhausted as her face was pale and her cheeks flushed.

"You're alive...again." she smiled, pushing herself away and moving to him. Touching his chest where his heart was, she felt herself begin to cry.

"I was so afraid this wouldn't work. I was so afraid you'd disappear." she cried, feeling herself at the mercy of exhaustion. Then Fred laughed and his arms were around her, pulling the small woman to him.

"But I didn't disappear! I'm still here! And it's all because of you...Ephyra...thank you." he said, his voice barely above a whisper and almost he was ready to cry. But one was enough, she could cry for the both of them because it would do no good if they both broke down.


End file.
